As a renter, it’s critical to be familiar with the most essential state and federal laws affecting your rights and duties. These laws can help you be a better and more educated tenant. This can improve your experience and help you avoid future problems with your landlord. As a renter, the following are some of the most critical laws to be aware of:
- Warranty of Habitability. Although the term used varies by state, implied warranty of habitability laws are state laws that ensure that your rental unit is habitable. This implies that the rental home must fulfill certain minimal criteria for things like heat, water, and electricity in the majority of states.
- Choosing a Tenant. Landlords have the right under state and federal law to select their tenants. However, the laws require that a landlord’s decision be based on creditworthiness, income, or previous history. They are not permitted to refuse to rent to someone on the basis of their skin color, religion, sexual orientation, familial status, or disability.
- Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act is a federal legislation that bans landlords from discriminating against tenants on the basis of protected characteristics like race, religion, gender, national origin, or handicap. This 1968 law allows tenants who believe they have been discriminated against because of one or more of these characteristics to file a complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), regardless of where they live.
- Limiting the Number of Children. A landlord cannot refuse to rent to a tenant based on the number of children the tenant has, according to the Fair Housing Act. Additionally, the legislation specifies that a landlord cannot prohibit minors from using common or outdoor places.
- Service Animals. Service animals qualify as a reasonable accommodation under federal law, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, therefore landlords may not simply prohibit them. They also can’t charge you an extra pet fee or raise your rent because you have a service animal. Landlords, on the other hand, may insist that a service animal is vaccinated, licensed, and registered in accordance with all applicable state and municipal regulations.
- Discriminatory Advertising. The federal Fair Housing Act, administered by HUD, also prohibits landlords from discriminating in their advertising of rental properties. Discriminatory advertising includes, for example, placing an ad declaring that the landlord will not rent to single adults, persons of a certain age, or people who use wheelchairs.
- Security Deposits. There are rules that govern how a property manager in Tumwater must handle your security deposit. In most situations, the law allows a landlord to collect and store your security deposit, which they can subsequently use to pay repairs if you are careless and damage something while living there. There are federal limits on how much a landlord can demand a security deposit, but state law also governs this.
- Illegal Lockouts. While there is no federal law that makes locking out a tenant illegal, each state’s laws explain the correct eviction process and make locking out a tenant an illegal conduct. Eviction is a legal procedure that must be followed precisely or the landlord risks a court ruling in favor of the tenant.
If you’re looking for a Tumwater rental home and property manager who knows and will follow all tenant-landlord laws in Washington, Real Property Management Imagine is who you can rely on. Browse our listings online to find your next rental home!
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
